POULSBO — It was certainly a Cinderella playoffs for the players and coaches the of Kregg Hoover, DDS Little League team.

Going 7-9 in the regular season, the team was not favored to win the championship. But after three wins in a row, the squad found itself in a finals match-up against Tim Ryan Construction.

And in the bottom of the fourth in the championship game, Trevor Bennett found the perfect pitch — a waist-high fastball — and took it over the center field wall, off the new Snider field scoreboard for a two run home run and a the go-ahead 3-2 win.

But Kregg Hoover, DDS coach Mike Bennett said he believes the championship win was definitely not a fluke. It was about a team that found its stride in the post-season, he commented.

“This team has so much confidence to hit the ball,” Mike Bennett said. “And they had to find that confidence in the playoffs.”

Tim Ryan Construction took quite a different route in getting to the championship. The team earned fourth place in the regular season with an 8-5 record and beat Computer Managers in the first round. But a loss to Hoover in the second round placed the team in the back-draw of the tournament. Tim Ryan would quickly recover, beating Nilsen’s Appliance and Lofall Well Drilling to put the squad back into the semi-finals of the tournament.

In spectacular fashion, the team beat Tuna Graphics 7-6 in extra innings off a home run by Rico LeMay — and a pitch that was supposed to be an intentional walk.

“Our team did an outstanding job,” said Tim Ryan Construction coach Ken LeMay. “In all three games, we had to come from behind to win.”

The championship began with Tim Ryan jumping out with an early lead. Chris Rovik took the very first pitch of the game over the wall in left field for a 1-0 lead. After walking two batters, Hoover pitcher Greg Uvila settled into a groove and struck out the next three.

The Kregg Hoover squad struck back in the second, off a Ryan Byers single and Kyle Eggers’ reaching base after an errant throw by Tim Ryan Construction, which scored Byers.

Tim Ryan again took the lead with LeMay reaching base on a single and advancing all the way to third off two passed balls. Seth Morris poked a single through the infield to score LeMay and take a 2-1 lead.

The only scoring left to be done was when Bennett went yard off the new Snider scoreboard to give the Hoover team the 3-2 win. Hoover held the Ryan team scoreless for the remaining two innings — a patient defense won the game for Hoover, Mike Bennett added.

“These kids showed their worth today,” he said. “They cut down on the errors and that’s why we won.”